WASHINGTON, Nov 17, 2008
-- Food insecurity in the United States rose to 11.1 percent of all households from 10.9 percent in 2006, according to 2007 data released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) is nearing record highs. Nearly 30 million people, half of them children, receive SNAP benefits. This is a 9.5 percent increase since the same time last year. One in every two babies in America receives special nutrition assistance through the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program.
"More than one in six children lives on the brink of hunger in the U.S.," Beckmann said. "America desperately needs political leadership that will see to it that all our children get the basic nutrition they need to thrive."
link to map of US food insecurity
http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2008/11/18/americas-shame-child-hunger-increased-50-percent/
1 comment:
why not special nutrition assistance for local people? for example the growers who sell produce at the lafayette farmers market could deliver more of what they grow to local soup kitchens and food pantries. maybe lugar's office could find a way to get the WIC program to pay for it. local veggies would be better food than surplus government butter.
nick
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